Shareholders Approve Leap Wireless’ Sale to AT&T

Leap Wireless International Inc., the flat rate carrier doing business as Cricket, said more than 99 percent of the votes cast at the special shareholders meeting Oct. 30 approved the company’s sale to AT&T.

The deal agreed to in July calls for AT&T to pay $15 in cash for each share of Leap or an aggregate $1.2 billion. Including Leap’s outstanding debt of $2.8 billion, the transaction is for nearly $4 billion.

The deal remains subject to customary closing conditions, including the review by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice.

Leap shareholders also approved, by 78 percent of the shares cast , a non-binding advisory on the compensation due to Leap’s highest paid executives.

According to Leap’s proxy materials, Leap’s chairman and largest shareholder, Mark Rachesky, will gain more than $40 million on the sale of his 29.9 stake in the company. CEO Doug Hutcheson stands to receive total compensation of $20.2 million as a result of change of control agreements when the transaction closes, expected in the first quarter of 2014.